POEM: RENDEZVOUS

 .... a visit to BERE, an ancient area in Ibadan.

By Eunice Olamide

The rickety _dáńfó_ plunged 

into polluted air

Whiff from the past

perched on rusted roofs

Amidst rejuvenation 

of the present.

 

Passing through _Ọjà Ọba_,

aged habitation narrated 

history of her warriors

City of seven hills 

where deities take charge 

at night.

 

Haven of comfort in serene spectacle

_Alâdúgbò_ - hospitable to a fault.

 

Unabashed, time pitted against trend

Battered, scattered huts 

tussled with plastered walls

_Agboolé_ - thread of  existence

at war with shreds of kinship 

Labyrinth where spirits communed,

now abode for night crawlers.

 

Onto the crest of _Òkè ‘Bàdàn_

Where the city rests its head

Beauty in sheer nakedness 

of the past, flashed before my eyes

Amidst rejuvenation 

of the present.

 

©uniqueeunice

 

GLOSSARY

 

DÁNFÓ - name given to commercial buses in Ibadan

 

ỌJÀ-ỌBA -  A rural area in Ibadan

 

ALÂDÚGBO - Neighbour.

 

AGBOOLÉ -  A compound where people of the same descent live in Yorubaland.

 

ÒKÈ 'BÀDÀN -One of the metaphorical hills in Ibadan.